My anecdotal evidence of one reason why healthcare is so fricking high..., and rising!

I can't complain about my family's healthcare coverage, it's pretty good but it may be part of the problem. Here's some examples of what I'm talking about from my family's visit to the doctors office.

How many of y'all have some sinus issues? Mine has gotten worse as I've gotten older. Probably 1-2 times a year I'll have a bout of sinusitis. Use to be I would run to the doctor, now I'll use the nasal wash take some Extra Strength Tylenol and eventually it will subside until the next the bout. Why did I stop going to the doctor for my sinuses ? Here's why!

This personal story can be told with the same details half dozen or more times, here's how the visit goes.

Doctor says what am I seeing you for today, I tell him I'm having severe sinus pressure, so he looks in my ears, down my throat and up my nose. He then says how long have you been having these symptoms? I tell him off and on for years and then I tell him what was done to treat my sinus troubles in the past. I tell him that on my last visit y'all had X-rays done, said I had a sinus infection, was prescribed an antibiotic and it cleared up for a few months and now it's back. So he promptly orders X-rays of sinuses, says yep you have a sinus infection and prescribed an antibiotic......, again.

What's the money maker on these repeated trips to the doc for sinus trouble...., bingo, the X-rays. Quick and easy cha-ching for around $140 dollars and for the most part the X-rays are unnecessary considering my medical record documenting numerous visits for the same issue.

Now for the wife's latest visit to the doctor. The wife is in the yard taking the dog out to do its business, dog sees something, jerks the leash and spins the wife around and she twists her knee. It bothers her for a few weeks and she finally goes to the doctor. Before she goes on the appointment I tell her pretty much what they're going to do. I tell her they'll ask her how you did it, feel the knee joint and order X-rays and then I add the X-rays are unnecessary because you have soft tissue damage not bone damage in your knee. Ok the visit goes just like I said it would and the only thing that surprised me was no prescription for pain or swelling. She was also given some exercises to perform and was told she has arthritis. LOL!

2 weeks later she's still all fricked up and I told her to ask for a referral to an orthopedic and have them perform an MRI to see what's been damaged. She goes back tells them it's not any better and she comes home with 3 prescriptions, an anti inflammatory, a muscle relaxer because her knee is causing back spasms and Tylenol 3 with codeine.

I'm like frick me! She finally got a referral from BCBS last week to get an MRI...., torn meniscus.

How much unnecessary billing/BS was incurred in those two stories? My belief is between unnecessary X-rays and repeat office visits thousands of dollars of questionable medical expenses were billed. We both have good medical coverage so we weren't out of pocket for very much money but the insurance companies sure took the hit.

The system is setup to bill the insurance companies for some things I see as unnecessary such as X-rays and repeat office visits before finally referring you to a specialist which is where you should have gone after the 1st visit to your primary care doctor.